OK, major Doctor Who spoiler alert! Well, kinda– not a plot spoiler, but a series 5 spoiler about the new companion.

OK, is that enough? Den of Geek is spreading the rumor that the new companion for the new Doctor is a young lass named Hannah Murray. I’ve not heard of her, but she was on a BBC show called Skins. She’s very young, 19, which come to think of it was how old Rose was supposed to be in the first series (Billie Piper was actually 23 in 2005).

Sticking with the theme, Ms. Murray is a cutie, but I’m starting to wonder. With the new Doctor being played by an actor who is only 27, they may have picked her to make the Doctor look older. I’m starting to suspect that after the next regeneration, the Doctor will be played by a fetus.

Anyway, consider this in the rumor stage. But it’ll be a while before this one’s confirmed, since the first of the last shows with David Tennant won’t air until Easter, and the next one after that won’t be until — cripes! — December! The rumor mill will have at least a year to churn, so expect lots of twists in this particular plot as time unfolds.

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Skins is actually a well written and fairly poignant coming of age series, and Ms Murray is a very good actor in it. Her youthful looks belie someone who can express emotion without going all Olivier. I think she’ll be an excellent companion.

A new Doctor and a new companion. This will be the first time the entire cast has changed at the same time in the run of the new series. I hate to say it, but I’m deeply skeptical. Tennant’s going to be a nearly impossible act to follow IMO, and providing no character continuity with the earlier seasons will only make the transition more jarring. I hope I’m wrong, of course, but when the cast of a show is spontaneously replaced with a bunch of young kids it usually spells disaster (Seaquest anyone?).

I’m getting really tired of the way people are content to simply spread rumors now. At least you admit it’s a rumor, but the fact is you shouldn’t be reporting anything unsubstantiated because it spreads like a virus and people believe it as truth. This particular rumor was started by News of the World, for crying out loud. What, The Sun wasn’t inaccurate enough with its baseless DW rumors-reported-as-fact, now you have to spread crap from News of the World? Christ.

Cassie! Sweet, this is awesome. She was fantastic on Skins, and this is about a bazillion times better than the previous rumor du jour, which was that Michelle Ryan (from NBC’s awful Bionic Woman reboot) was the new companion. She was fine, but a little stiff; but Hannah’s Cass was a wonderful, damaged flake. I hope even a tiny bit of that comes through to DW.

Took one look at her picture, and wondered, Why another horsey blonde? Sorry to be blunt. But it was hard to watch Billie Piper because all I could see were her teeth. Would love to see Donna spank Matt.

Three possibility’s A: they well end the show because of a rule created 35 years ago to add new drama to the Master or 2: they well include a throwaway line about how all Timelords were given 784 regenerations in the Timewar or C: They well make a interesting plot point out of it, simultaneously figuring out a creative way of getting around it.

I am trying to remain optimistic, I really am. SM has written some of the spookiest, best episodes yet (I’ve only watched the new series stuff, I’m only 19…I know…shame on me. I loved Chris as the Doctor and I loved David even more. I am going to miss the reoccuring characters: Rose, Martha, Donna, Mickey, Jackie,Wilf…etc. I don’t think that Moffatt is big on bringing them back…ever. My hope is that since he created the character of Jack that perhaps he may be back now and again.

The shift will be incredibley difficult to make I think because, as others have said, there will be no familiar character to hold on to. 10 will cease to exist and suddenly it will be as if we’ve started back at the beginning again…no continuity. There has to at least (I hope) be some mention of past events, and no it doesn’t have to be in a teary eyed…I lost them voice. The Doctor will be new and I have every faith in him, the companion will be new…not so sure about that, as well, the TARDIS interior will be new.

I am all for reviving a show, but it seems like a rather drastic shift to me. Still, I’m along for the ride unless I truly dislike it. Let’s see what they give us before we all jump up and cry in outrage.

We’ve known for ages that there was going to be a complete cast change. This has nothing to do with trying to get a younger audience but just a side effect of having the change over from Russel T. Davies to Steve Moffat and David Tenant leaving at the same time. A complete cast change is not that big of a deal in a 45 year old show that has changed innumerous times.

As for the 13th regeneration thing, that was a one off line explaining the Master and the disappearance of Roger Delgado (who died) from the cast. I dunno why fans are so hung up on this while other inconsistencies are ignored.

Its about time we had a change. sure its was nice to have familiur faces pop back like rose, martha and donna, but there has to be a point when it stops. The doctors gona keep changing and ageing and the show will never move on if its the same assistants.

over the years the docotrs gone through over 20 diffrent assistants (it feels like a lot more some how) he has always moved forward and apart from the odd eopsode like the five docotrs and the two doctors sarah jane smith has been the only one to make a big return years later (not saying that was a bad thing, she was one of the best)

All the assistants have famalies, we always go back to and the assiastnat keep coming back feels like its always gona be tied down.

i think 2010 will let the docotor start a new chapter
new series, new assistants new tardis design and new producer (who seems to be a tradiational who fan) and has writen some amazing stories.
(also recently found out he did the comic relief one years ago with Rowan Atkinson as the docotor).

as far as new assistants go, i think Jemima Rooper who played thelma in hex and was recently in Lost in Austen whould be great.

12 Regenerations was more than a Master Throw-away line. It was picked up as a major plot point in Mawdryn Undead.

This being said — I can think of half a dozen ways to get the Doctor more lives (and I’m not really that creative). The easiest, is that it’s been clearly established that the TimeLords can grant a new cycle of lives (happened to the Master Twice, right) — if the TimeLords were sending the Doctor off to destroy both them and Daleks as a kind of last ditch to save Time (not established, but hinted at?, wouldn’t they give him as many lives as possible?

As I have never seen her act, I don’t have any prior experience of her previous roles, therefore I will reserve my judgement, if the rumour about her being The 11th Doctor’s first companion is true.

However, my own personal preference is for an actress called Rachel Shenton. Hailing from the Manchester district of the North West of England, she has been in things like ‘Doctors’, ‘Holby City’ & ‘Waterloo Road’, in which she took on smaller, supporting roles. She hasn’t yet managed to land a major role. ‘Doctor Who’ needs an uknown.

I agree with Prospero. I have been watching Dr Who since I was in 6th grade. The Mawdryn Undead is an excellent and distinctive story that depicts the limit of regenerations. If TimeLords could truly live forever then wouldn’t Gallifrey have been quite overcrowded? Especially because the TimeLords did not side with the concept of leaving Gallifrey at all except for sending delegates to events. They labelled the Dr a criminal for leaving Gallifrey which leads one to believe that they do not like reaching outside their own atmosphere. The seried has more than ample evidence that TimeLords simply watch over the universe and not interfere which is their highest law. (Sorry this is getting a bit long). It is true that the TimeLords had the ability to transcend the 12 regeneration limit but immortality seems a bit unlikely. After all, in the Five Doctors, it is stated that Rassilon (the greatest TimeLord) had achieved immortality but that it was a curse. In fact, in the Five Doctors, the second Dr makes the comment that noboby really knew the extent of Rassilon’s power. So it would seem that the gift of immortality is not impossible nor improbable.

On the one hand, I am dismayed that they didn’t consider Rachel for the role. However, on the other hand, by casting Karen Gillan, Moffatt has gone for an unknown. It’s good to see that new talent is being tapped for the next generation of TV and film starlets.

There seems to be a lot of apprehension and concern over a new cast change and the fact that the new Doctor is inherently young. My thoughts? Reserve judgement. We love SM for the wonderful and haunting stories he has given us, yet somehow, as soon as we see an actor proposed for the part who looks perhaps slightly too young to be a dad yet, we lose our faith.
I believe SM will make good choices and let’s not forget that DR Who is all about constant changes and evolution. We might freak out at a sudden jar in continuity, yet we forget that it wasn’t explained fully that the doctor could regenerate until Pertwee (before that, it was more speculative as to how or why he changed). Ultimately, judgements can only be made once the action starts to unfold.
As for explaining how the Doctor may overcome the 12-regeneration limit, one possibility is to explain that the Gallifrey counting system is different from earth. (Perhaps each number is the Earth equivalent to the power of itself, meaning 12 on Gallifrey is more then 8000 trillion on Earth). Yes ok, intellectually, its both a tough AND a weak get-out clause but this is off the cuff.
Anyway, looking forward to DR Who Series 5. Blink and you might miss it!